Airborne vehicles, such as blimps or other airships, provide enhanced capabilities and economical access to areas of operation where conventional fixed-wing aircraft are unreasonable or unacceptably costly. For example, blimps can perform a wide variety of different types of missions, including surveillance for military or law enforcement operations, monitoring weather conditions, and a variety of different missions relating to advertising and/or tourism.
Many blimps or airships, however, require a significant amount of manpower during the ground handling phase of operations. For example, most blimps require at least 16 people during ground handling operations. The required manpower can be significantly higher for ground handling of larger blimps and/or maneuvers involving hangers or other structures. While these arrangements have proven reasonably effective for current operations, it is increasingly difficult and expensive to have such a significant manpower requirement.